The Brass Band Bridge

That should be nabbabridge@gmail.COM. I screw that up every time.

I agree! Thanks to Jim Grate, we have actually received some info.

These are my opinions. Do I have an axe to grind? Sure. Do I value NABBA? Well, I have been a member for 10 years and have had some of the best musical experiances of my life thru NABBA. I think NABBA does some things well, but needs to expand on that.

I think a March and a Lyric piece by each band at the gala is a good idea. In the absense of a "Name" act it very well may drive additional audiience numbers. What seems to have worked best however, if the goal is a huge audience, is a "name" act.

If however the goal is to help foster a knowledge and respect for the Brass Band movement on this continent, then an all member band event with a large variety of different music seems to me to be a good play to call.... See More

The real problem is that there is still a vacuum in top leadership at NABBA. Since the person who was driving past decisions (and not for the betterment of NABBA but for their own agenda) left, the person who remains is merely a coat-tail rider with no coat-tail to hitch hike on.

For years there has been nothing but the basic administration of a contest that the NABBA board has put the effort into to be successful. Any stretch beyond that has fallen prey to turf wars and infighting, and no energy has gone to results.

One misstep that comes to mind is the fact that there is no recorded record of last years event. That is because the board in their "wisdom" misinterpreted the copyright law, and decided they did not want to pay a skilled recordist fortheir time. I was told by one Board Member "I am tired of people wanting something for nothing", and yet that is exactly what the board wanted from the recordist. Go figure.

Another major misstep is the fact that after years of searching, the Board was able to establish a relationship with a near perfect venue, Indiana University. That fell apart because leadership at NABBA had issues with lifestyles in my opinion.
Also because, as in any board, there are a couple worker bees and the rest just like to be able to wear the NABBA Board Member shirt and show off once a year.

So now we have no home and hobo around the country again. Good luck with that.

Again these are my opinions. No one asked for them but here they are. The best part of my week is Band rehearsal. The competition has been invaluable to me these past 10 years.

I hope for nothing but the best for NABBA, and sometimes I think that means speaking out on the warts.

@ Tony - Who said I ever even wanted to? After 20 years of brass banding and 10 different NABBA competitions, I'm ready for a new challenge.